My Last Chili Dinner Till It Gets Cold Again (and a lovely side of baked crispy kale)

Starting today, whenever I make something tasty, I’m going to write the recipe down. I randomly throw things in pots and then when I try to replicate them, I can never figure out what ingredients I used and alas, my tastes buds never get to taste whatever they were craving. Woe is me.

I know the weather is getting warm now, so I wanted one last chili hurrah. I used whatever ingredients I had in the cupboards and out of the pot came a really satisfying chili that is reminiscent of Dinosaur BBQ’s version. Slighty sweet, with a hint of heat and smoky-ness. I was quite pleased with the results.

Ingredients

1 lb of beef chunks

1 lb of ground beef

1 can of corn

1 can of kidney beans

Garlic powder (half a capful)

Onion powder (half a capful)

Fresh Direct BBQ seasoning (3 capfuls)

Chili Powder (3 capfuls)

Red chili pepper flakes (half a capful)

Cayenne powder  (2 tsp)

Brown sugar (3 tbs)

Nutmeg (2 pinches)

1 large onion, chopped up

6 garlic cloves, minced

1 can of crushed tomatoes (I forget how many ounces)

Heat up oil in a pan and sear the beef chunks on all sides (feel free to cut up smaller if you wish). When they are nicely browned, throw in the ground meat. When the ground meat looks cooked, throw in the onions and garlic. After that’s been cooking for about 10 minutes, throw in all the spices, cook for another 10 minutes. Then, simply throw in everything else, stir well and then cover. Simmer on low heat for 1.5 hours-3 hours, occasionally go back to it and stir and taste, add seasonings to taste if needed.

One pot of this will serve 6 people, or 4 really hungry people.

Baked crispy kale

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

I wanted some side though, and since I didn’t have the ingredients for corn pudding, I figured crispy kale would add a nice crunch. Take however much kale you feel like eating, rinse and dry very well. Cut the rib of it out and toss. All you want is the leaves. Chop up the leaves into about 2 inch long pieces. Toss well with just a drizzle of olive oil. Spread across a  baking sheet so that the kale is just one layer. Pop into the oven for 12-15 minutes or until the Kale is crispy, as if you fried it. (This is a great alternative (and much healthier one) for fried spinach. Yummy! I could eat crispy kale all day long (and night!).

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